Florida Woman Fights To Outlaw Child Marriage

Florida Woman Fights To Outlaw Child Marriage

When Sherry Johnson was just 11 years old she was forced to marry her rapist.

Sherry was just 9 years old when she was raped by a 20-year-old church deacon. 9 months later, at the age of 10, Sherry gave birth and by 11 she was married purely because her family and the church wanted to avoid a criminal case.

Now, Sherry has pushed forward a bill that will ultimately ban child marriages in the state of Florida.

“This is not about me, I survived,” says Johnson.

The state of Florida currently does not have a minimum age to be married when a pregnancy is involved and a judge grants his/her approval. According to NowThis, between 2012 and 2016, 1,828 marriage licenses were issued in Florida which included at least one minor. One particular Florida case involved a man over the age of 90 marrying a girl that was no older than 16 or 17.

The bill passed on a 109-1 vote and has now been passed on to Governor Rick Scott, NowThis News has more.